Sugar Blues
You will not find sugar blues listed in any medical books, and recent research has offered conflicting evidence about the link between sugar consumption and a child's moodiness. Still, many parents and teachers often complain that too many sweets make children irritable. In a study in which children were fed an amount of sugar equal to that in two frosted cupcakes, the young subjects felt weak and shaky afterward and found it difficult to concentrate or to remain in their seats. The children also responded differently to sugar than adults do. Like adults, their blood sugar levels increased, but unlike adults, their adrenaline levels also increased—an average of ten times higher than normal. No wonder they got the nervous jitters!If you give an adult-size portion of sugar to a child, the effect is much stronger than it would be on an adult. Clark's Rule can be applied to colas and sweets as well as to doses of medicine. I'll do the math for you. Let's say your family goes out for ice cream cones and everyone gets a double-decker. According to Clark's Rule, for your 75-pound fifth-grader, eating this cone will be the equivalent of your eating 4 scoops; for your 25-pound tyke, it will be like eating 12 scoops. And sugar is not the only problem. Most parents wouldn't think of giving their child coffee, but colas and other carbonated soft drinks are loaded with caffeine (as well as sugar). For a child, one can of a caffeinated soft drink is equal to an entire cup of coffee for an adult. You can also figure in the eight teaspoons of sugar in the typical 12-ounce can of soda!
Sweet-tasting herbs such as licorice, hibiscus, rose hips and stevia provide a healthy alternative and can replace at least some sweets. Unlike sugar, they will not affect a child's blood sugar level in the slightest. In its native Paraguay, stevia, which is even sweeter than sugar, is used to keep blood sugar levels stable. Peppermint and spearmint are all-time children's favorites. Children also tend to like the sweet and fruity taste of herbs like lemongrass and lemon balm, and the spiciness of cinnamon, ginger and anise. Sarsaparilla and wintergreen taste like root beer. According to studies from the University of Michigan, parents can help curtail the development of a sweet tooth by not dispensing sweetened foods to begin with. Children under two years old are attracted to sweets, but as they grow older, their desire for sugar is based on how much they had as infants.
Herbal Root Beer
2 teaspoons sarsaparilla root
1 teaspoon each licorice root, wintergreen leaves and stevia leaves (optional)
½ teaspoon cinnamon bark
2 cups water
1 quart carbonated water
Simmer herbs in the plain water in an uncovered pan for 10 minutes, then remove from heat. Cover the pan and let cool. Strain out herbs, add carbonated water and serve. For variety, you can use flavored carbonated water. Because stevia is sometimes hard to find, it is optional.
Kid's Herbal Punch
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon each hibiscus flowers, lemon grass leaves and rose hips
½ teaspoon spearmint leaves
Pour boiling water over herbs and steep for 10 minutes. Strain out herbs and let cool. This punch is tasty when mixed with apple juice.
Although this is not exactly an herbal success story, it did impress upon me the importance of offering children herbal alternatives to sweets, such as the herbal root beer described above. When I was employed as a teaching assistant for second-graders, I worked with "problem" children. I needed to be especially patient with Renée, whose attention span lasted only a couple of minutes, and Malcolm, who simply could not stay in his seat, no matter what I did or said. It was only after I posed an addition problem to Renee, using the foods she ate, that I realized her diet was based on sugar: a doughnut and sweetened juice for breakfast (if anything at all); Twinkies for lunch; cookies, soda pop and a hot dog with ketchup after school; and cake or cookies for dinner. That started me wondering about Malcolm's diet. When quizzed, he admitted that he shunned everything but sweets. He was so difficult to discipline, his mother said, that she always gave up and allowed him to have whatever he wanted. I was, of course, unable to instill changes at home, but when a school breakfast and lunch program was instituted, I noticed a dramatic change not only in Malcolm and Renée but also in other children in the classroom. Almost overnight, their concentration improved. (My job also improved; I was able to focus more on education and less on discipline.)